Phish plays to a capacity crowd in Reading

With their 2013 fall concert tour coming to a close, jam band gods “Phish” played to a sold out crowd of more than 7,000 at Reading, Pennsylvania’s Santander Arena on Tuesday October 29th. The millennial generation’s answer to the Grateful Dead, Phish has morphed into a rare musical act that routinely sells out concerts around the globe. This is an astonishing feat, especially considering they have received virtually no radio support, instead building significant fan support on word of mouth. For “Phish-heads,” a term of endearment among the fan base, attending a Phish show is more than just a concert - it is a happening.

Tonight continued this tradition, with thousands of Phish-heads converging on Reading and gathering in preconcert ritual. A fenced in parking lot played host to a variety of vendors who sold everything from food to psychedelic memorabilia.

Originally scheduled to start at 7:30 P.M., the concert was delayed a half-hour to allow fans, many of whom were visibly under the influence of alcohol, etc., to transport the party indoors to the confines of the arena. Their state of mind notwithstanding, concertgoers were as friendly and tame as I have witnessed. They were here to pay homage to their musical heroes.

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With people packed into every square inch of the venue, there wasn’t an empty seat to be found. Phish casually walked on stage to a deafening cheer. Dressed in their street clothes and with no theatrical stage production, the band launched into the opening chords of the concert.

Performing two extended sets of some of the most upbeat and meticulously executed jam songs you will ever hear, Phish gave credence to their standing among music royalty.

From this writer’s perspective, it is a safe bet that every single person in the building danced the evening away. A few of the venue’s ushers commented on how much they enjoyed the concert. As the evening progressed, I watched and listened in awe of this mesmerizing band whose flawless execution of each and every song got me hooked from the beginning.

Recalling the concert days at the demolished Philadelphia Spectrum, random clouds of pot smoke merged to produce a haze that floated above the audience like a fog, which only added to the surreal tone of the night.

The band’s first set featured “Cars Trucks Buses,” “Stealing Time From The Faulty Plan,” “Ginseng Sullivan,” “Wolfman’s Brother,” “Sparkle,” “Walk Away,” “Divided Sky,” “Split Open and Melt” and “Julius.”

Set two included “Down With Disease,” “Taste,” “Twenty Years Later,” “Piper,” “Backwards Down The Number Line,” “You Enjoy Myself” and “Grind,” followed by an encore of “Bouncing Around The Room,” “Reba” and “Good Times, Bad Times” to close out the night.

Phish finished the tour this past weekend in Atlantic City, highlighted by a Halloween night concert. They will wind down 2013 with a four night run at New York’s Madison Square Garden culminating on New Years Eve. To stay up to date with Phish go to www.phish.com.